Luxembourg, May 22, 2018. The competition in the 2018 CEV Volleyball Silver European League – Women resumes on Wednesday with four matches scheduled for the second leg. In Pool A, Sweden and Estonia will be vying for their second victory in as many matches when playing Kosovo away from home and hosting Switzerland, respectively. In Pool B, Albania and Austria will play for the provisional leadership in the group when clashing in Tirana while Israel and Georgia will chase their first victory in Ra’anana. The Final Four is due to take place on June 16-17 in Nyköping, Sweden.

Pool A

Kosovo vs. Sweden

• The match will be taking place at Bashkim Selishta-Petriti sports hall, which is home to KV Drita GJILAN, i.e. the team that has won the women’s national league of Kosovo for the last three years in a row.
• Kosovo will be missing for the entire European League one of their best players, Sherife Behrami, who suffered an injury during the national league Playoffs.
• Ronita Leka, Florentina Deliu and Valmire Ramadani are all looking forward to making their European League debut.
• Zyla Kadriu, at 17, is the youngest member of Team Kosovo – and she made her debut with the national team two years ago at the age of 15.
• National champions KV Drita GJILAN and runners-up KV Skenderaj contribute to the national team with five players each.
• Kosovo lost their first match in the pool to Estonia (0-3) while Sweden beat Switzerland at home (3-0).

Lorik Ilazi, head coach of Kosovo: “We are here to learn and to enjoy the experience for a better future for our national team.”
Estonia vs. Switzerland

• This match coincides with the first time the men’s and women’s national teams of Estonia play on the same day in the same venue – the local sports hall in Rakvere.
• One of Estonia’s star players, Anu Ennok, has spent the last three seasons in the Swiss national league with Sm’ AESCH Pfeffingen. Therefore, she knows the opponent inside out.
• This is the fourth time in history Estonia and Switzerland play each other. Switzerland lead the way with two wins and one loss.
• Estonia won their previous match in the pool (3-0 to Kosovo) while Switzerland lost to Sweden (0-3).

Timothy Lippuner, coach of Switzerland: “I think Sweden is the favourite in this group, so Estonia and Switzerland will fight for the second place in the pool. I expect a close fight and I think it is quite possible that this will be a five-set game.”

Anu Ennok, player of Estonia: “I know the Swiss team quite well as I have played together with many of their players and Timothy was my coach for two seasons in Pfeffingen. Switzerland has a young and talented team but they lack a bit of experience. Their coach is a very good tactician, so I am sure he will come up with something interesting for the game.”
Pool B

Albania vs. Austria
Coming soon…
Israel vs. Georgia

• After losing to Austria (1-3) last Saturday in Klagenfurt, Israel contest their first home match in this year’s European League when hosting Georgia in Ra’anana.
• Israel very much hope for a home victory, which would provide an extra boost of energy ahead of their next home game with Albania.
• Israel are participating in the European League for the sixth time – and the first since 2015 when they reached the semi-finals, losing there to Turkey. Back in 2010, Israel reached the semis as well, losing to eventual gold medal winners Serbia and to hosts Turkey in the bronze medal game.
• Israel are using the European League as an opportunity to gain experience ahead of the 2019 EuroVolley qualifiers, which will commence in August. The team includes experienced players such as Anna Velikiy together with some younger ones. Together, they should account for the right mix to qualify for next year’s European Championship.
• Their coach is Italian Giuseppe Cuccarini.
• Last Saturday in Klagenfurt, three players finished the game with Austria in double digits – these are Vitalia Marmen, Polina Malik and Gal Lander.
• Georgia lost last weekend at home to Albania (0-3). They co-hosted last year’s European Championship together with Azerbaijan but lost all of their pool matches to Belarus, Croatia and Italy, thus finishing the competition in 16th place. Georgia are making their third and second straight appearance in the European League. Last year they lost all of their matches to France, Ukraine and Montenegro.

Rebecca Kopilovitch, captain of Israel: “We are working really hard in order to get better and improve from match to match. We hope we will enjoy much support from the home crowd and that the younger players will be leading the way, so that they gain valuable experience for the future.”